BeerBorg

Sometimes yeasties are the contrariest little cusses.

Brewing with Ringwood?

That's the most PITA yeast I've come across. Except maybe Belgian Saison. Although with that you just have to make it hot. Ringwood you got to just keep fiddling with your fermenter. All... the... time...

I've got a couple of Belgians going right now that just go on and on. Still bubbling after 9 days.

Depends on the strain, I s'pose. I've had some batches take off like gangbusters, while others, using a different yeast, are more sedate.

True Dave.
I'm using WLP530. It takes off fast, then still goes on and on.

John Sand wrote:True Dave.
I'm using WLP530. It takes off fast, then still goes on and on.

FWIW, don't just judge that yeast by the krausen lingering on top. Sometimes it's actually done a week before the krausen falls. Westmalle yeast make a particularly hard and rocky krausen that just doesn't like to go away. I've bottled from under the krausen with Westmalle yeast many times.

Thanks Mash. I'm judging by airlock activity. This batch is fermenting somewhat cool, mid-sixties. My chamber is full of lager right now, and I have had success in the past at this temp.

John Sand wrote:Thanks Mash. I'm judging by airlock activity. This batch is fermenting somewhat cool, mid-sixties. My chamber is full of lager right now, and I have had success in the past at this temp.

I don't trust airlock activity.

Certainly BP, lack of airlock bubbling is often an incomplete seal on the lid. If my airlock shows no bubbles, I shine a flashlight through the bucket to look for krausen. But if there are bubbles, I believe the yeast are still making CO2.

This is why I let my batches go three weeks before bottling/kegging. And I take a gravity sample, just to be sure, and to calculate ABV. I've had instances where I've taken the blow-off tube out after a week, and replaced it with an airlock, and even though there didn't seem to be any activity through the blow-off tube, the airlock would bubble, albeit infrequently.

John Sand wrote:But if there are bubbles, I believe the yeast are still making CO2.

This is probably the case if you are maintaining an exact temperature. But if you are ramping up or lowering temps for some reason (common in Belgians especially), the airlock activity (or lack of it) may just be because less or more CO2 is able to remain dissolved in solution. The gas laws are fun like that.

Good point Mash. In this case, and last time I made this recipe, I think it's just gradual attenuation.